Your Life, Better

Aesthetic design and wellbeing

September 25, 2018

Understanding the impact our surroundings can have on our wellbeing has deepened greatly over the last few years, with increasing studies into this field. For example, German researchers have found that being able to see the colour green boosts creativity and motivation. Therefore, hospitals with large windows and landscape views can help speed recovery. Evidence of the restorative effect of feeling happier in our surroundings, and the impact that aesthetics can have on our ability to heal.

Accidents, trauma and the on-set of old age cause disabilities that change everything in your life. Many things become a compromise; the clothes you can wear, the places that you can visit, the way you design your home and the impression you make as you enter a room. These all have a profound impact on how you feel about yourself and subsequently how you are perceived by others.

Until recent years, the design of daily living products focused purely on the function of the product, without much consideration to the aesthetic design, resulting in medical looking aids which carry the stigma of disability.

Opticians are a great example of positive change. Until recently, glasses were unexciting and people resisted wearing them because they felt embarrassed by how they looked. In the last few years however, this industry has become big business; they are now designed to be stylish and are worn as a fashion statement. These days, people generally seem happy to pay a reasonable price for a jumper, so why not a stylish cane that co-ordinates with your outfit, which also works as a fashion statement?

Baby boomers are the next elderly generation. They are used to having a choice and want the good design in their homes and in their lifestyle. Style is a personal thing, it can define us, it is how we choose to express ourselves and can hugely affect our self-esteem.

Online retailer designed2enable is a game changer in the mobility sector. The company was born from a wish to provide stigma-free mobility products that not only functioned well, but could bring joy and pleasure to their users. Many of their products are award-winning by design and designed2enable research worldwide to find products that their customers will feel happy to purchase, to use and to have in their home. You can visit their website at www.designed2enable.co.uk email: info@designed2enable.co.uk